After the end of the First World War, Russia entered a state of revolution. At the same time, a new movement was born - Suprematism.
Suprematism, the invention of Russian artist Kazimir Malevich, and in 1915 Malevich and 13 other artists held an exhibition in St. Petersburg, called The Last Futurist Exhibition of Painting 0.10 (Zero Ten), Malevich exhibited his iconic"Black Square". Public reviews of The Black Square were polarized, mainly because it was placed in the seat of an icon in an Orthodox church. "Black Square" is not only a turning point in Malevich's artistic career but also a representative work that rebels against traditional artistic thinking in art history. Malevich's exposure to Cubism in 1912 influenced his work, which used basic geometric forms such as circles, squares, lines and rectangles, painted with a limited range of colors.
After Russia entered a period of revolution, Malevich believed that most arts pursued image, visual or serving certain groups. For him, art should be purer, and he could discuss the pictorial arts through the simplest geometry and color. Suprematism completely removes reality through abstract painting, refusing to imitate natural shapes, allowing the viewer to think about what the colors in the painting want to express. Malevich's work "White on White" in 1918 is also known as one of the masterpieces of Suprematism.
In 1920 Malevich and El Lissitzky co-founded the MOLPOSNOVIS, which means "Young Followers of the New Art", which later changed its name to UNOVIS after several rounds of disputes, meaning "The Champions of the New Art". The members of the group are Kazimir Malevich, El Lissitzky, Ilya Chashnik, Vera El Vera Ermolaeva, Lazar Khidekel. Most of the members of the group signed all works with a solitary black square, which has become the representative symbol of UNOVIS.
In addition to Suprematism can be seen in the painting, Suprematism has been seen in clothing, theatre, architecture and even the St. Petersburg Royal Ceramics Factory used the Suprematist form to make works. Architect Lazar Khidekel combined Suprematism with architecture, completing the first Suprematist building in 1926 and later designing a series of future projects.
After Stalin took office, artistic freedom in Russia was restricted, and the official government policy advocated "socialist realism", promoting an idealized and propaganda style of art, while prohibiting abstract avant-garde works of art, which also meant that Suprematism couldn't continue to develop. At that time, the policy had been established, and Malevich still advocated his views. In order to conform to the policy and personal opinions, he used the traditional painting method to conform to the policy in 1933, but in the corner of the artist's signature he filled in a small black and white square instead. A signature, a clever combination of policy and personal assertion. Although political factors stopped the movement, it still influenced many genres in Russia in the early 1920s, especially the "Constructivism" of the same period and later abstract art.
Figure 1：Murals,1924 ©️ Lazar Khidekel Society
Figure 2 top left：UNOVIS Group Malevich ©️ Lazar Khidekel Society
Figure 2 left bottom：Suprematist Painting (with Black Trapezium and Red Square) , 1915 ©️ Kazimir Malevich, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam
Figure 2 top right：Suprematism, 18th Construction ©️ Kazimir Malevich, Sothebys
Figure 2 left bottom：Spherical suprematism ©️ Ivan Kliun, Sothebys
